


Hospitality

by MaliceManaged



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Loki Does What He Wants, Past Child Abuse, Tumblr Prompt, Tumblr: imagine-loki, questionable decisions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-08-12 19:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7945975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaliceManaged/pseuds/MaliceManaged
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki needed a place to stay. Kailani was too tired to tell him to get lost. And coffee makes everything better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this prompt: Imagine Loki showing up randomly at your door asking if he can crash on your couch.

    _There’s a god on my porch._

 

    The thought was slow to register in the brunette’s barely-woken mind.

 

    _There’s a god on my porch. At two in the morning. On a Saturday._

 

    She blinked her hazel eyes once. Twice.

 

    No; he was definitely still there. And he was saying something. She thought she caught the word ‘couch’ in there somewhere. She stared at him. Long enough for him to frown, likely rethinking the decision to be there at all.

 

    Finally, she stepped aside, and he wasted no time in walking into the house. He went straight into the living room and promptly collapsed on the couch; by the time she’d closed and locked the front door and followed him, he was already out cold. She stared at him for a moment then decided it was entirely too late/early for this and went back to her room, where her bed welcomed her like the fondest friend.

 

****

 

    She sat on her coffee table, a cup of still-steaming coffee in her hand, staring at the blissfully passed-out form on her couch. She recognised him from the news; another asgardian like Thor, though she couldn’t for the life of her remember his name. She did remember he seemed to have a knack for getting on the Avenger’s radar in a bad way. And there he was, crashing on her couch.

 

    She wasn’t as worried about that as she thought she should be.

 

    Maybe she needed more coffee.

 

    She sipped from her cup as she examined him. He was very handsome, she had to admit; though it might have something to do with the fact that he was asleep and therefore harmless. She contemplated letting him sleep then reached forward and poked him.

 

    He barely even stirred.

 

    Frowning a bit, she poked him again, a little harder, and then let out a terribly undignified squeak as his hand flew up and gripped her wrist tightly, almost but not quite to the point of pain. Her eyes snapped up to his face to see he was glaring at her, and yeah, while definitely still terribly attractive, he was considerably less appealing to her now.

 

    “Having fun?” He asked shortly.

 

    She was fairly certain the sound she made in response was not quite human.

 

    She tugged her hand back and he let her go, sitting up and turning to face her. He was staring at her with less venom now and more... amusement? Yes, that was definitely amusement. She was amusing now. Lovely.

 

    She opened her mouth then closed it. Opened it again. Closed it. Finally she raised her cup to her lips and took a rather large gulp, grimacing slightly as the drink scalded its way down her throat. All the while he was simply... staring at her. She got the feeling he was waiting for her to do something. She raised her cup to him slightly. “Coffee?” She asked and was absurdly proud of the fact that her voice was only slightly higher pitched than normal.

 

    Aaaand the amusement was back.

 

    She wasn’t sure whether to feel indignant, or relieved that he wasn’t angry at her. She’d seen what he could do on the news, and would very much prefer not to be on the other end of _that_ , thank you very much.

 

    She was still waiting for an answer, and he finally seemed to realise it hadn’t been a rhetorical question. “If you like,” He said with far more politeness than she was expecting.

 

    She nodded once then stood. He followed her up, towering over her by at least half a foot, and she would have stepped back if not for the coffee table behind her. Trying to pretend she wasn’t trying to put as much distance as possible between them, she half fled into the kitchen. Taking down a mug from the cupboard without even looking, she poured coffee into it then turned around and almost collided with him, letting out another embarrassing squeak. She hadn’t even heard him walk into the room!

 

    She handed him the cup and he looked at it then snickered. She followed his gaze and only then realised she had given him the cup a cousin had gifted her that read ‘First Coffee, Then World Domination’, and almost facepalmed at the irony. Resisting the urge to try (and very likely fail) to snatch the cup back, she edged around him and went to the fridge, took out the cream then turned around and almost collided with him _again_.

 

    The smirk on his face as she let out yet another startled squeak told her he was doing it entirely on purpose. She considered emptying the contents of the carton in her hands on his face, but resisted the impulse.

 

    By the time he was contentedly drinking his coffee, hers was cold, forcing her to pop it into the microwave for maybe a little too long, if her once again scalded tongue was any indication. She found herself staring at him for _definitely_ too long, even as she quite sternly told herself to _stop it._ She had many questions she wanted to ask him. Mainly; what was he doing here, and was anyone looking for him, because she _just_ paid the rent and it would be a terrible shame to have to go to jail for harbouring a criminal _now._

 

    Instead she sat there drinking her too-hot coffee and staring at him as though he held the answers to the universe itself.

 

    _There is something very, very wrong with you._

 

    Yes, she agreed with the internal voice that sounded disturbingly like her least-favourite third grade teacher; there most certainly was.

 

    He looked over at her and grinned, prompting her to hastily look away, to which he laughed. The sound, she decided, was entirely too pleasant given the circumstances. “One would think,” He began, sounding entirely too close, and she jumped and looked back to see he was standing right in front of her now, “That you find me pleasing to look at, given that you’ve been staring for the past five minutes.” She opened her mouth but no sound came out and he chuckled and leaned down. “The feeling is quite mutual,” He whispered in her ear.

 

    And then he was gone.

 

    No warning. No sound; just... blink. Gone.

 

    She stood there for a long while, wondering what the hell just happened. She shook her head, downed the remainder of her once again cold coffee in one gulp, and went about her day as though nothing unusual at all had occurred.

 

****

 

    He was back again, and this time she was awake enough to wonder why he’d even bothered to ring the doorbell at all.

 

    “Am I going to have a bunch of angry superheroes breaking down my door and asking questions soon?” She thought to ask.

 

    He merely grinned and shrugged, and she sighed in resignation and stepped aside to let him in.

 

    She still couldn’t remember his name.

 

    She really ought to.

 

    “Fuck’s sakes,” She muttered to herself as she walked into the living room rubbing her eyes, and this time she _did_ collide with him. She looked up to see him staring down at her, eyebrow raised questioningly, and she sighed. “I can’t remember your name,” She admitted bluntly.

 

    “It’s Loki,” He helpfully provided with a half-smile.

 

    “Oh; okay,” She replied, trying to commit it to memory this time. Just in case. He looked at her expectantly and she cleared her throat awkwardly as she realised he was waiting for her to introduce herself. “I’m Kailani,” She said quickly.

 

    He smiled and she ignored just how badly she wanted to find her camera and take a picture of it because she was fairly certain that you could forge world peace with that sight alone.

 

    He was saying something again. She blinked and forced herself out of her own mind. “I’m sorry; what?” She asked, dearly wishing he would stop smiling at her because goddammit, it was distracting!

 

    The smile changed into a smirk as he obviously realised why she hadn’t been paying attention to his words. “I asked if I might trouble you for the use of your couch once more,” He repeated.

 

    “Why?” She asked, eyeing him a little suspiciously.

 

    “Because I doubt you’d give me your bed,” He replied then smirked again, “Or would you?”

 

    “What?? No!” She practically shrieked, feeling her face heat up at the implication.

 

    “Then I’ll take the couch,” He said without missing a beat then turned and walked over to the couch and made himself comfortable, leaving her staring at him open-mouthed.

 

    She stood there for a moment, considering her options, before deciding that, fuck it, she was going to bed. Loki’s quiet chuckles followed her all the way to her room, and she shut the door behind her with maybe a little more force than was really necessary to try and shut them out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got, like, five requests on tumblr to write a second chapter to this, and I'm basically a pushover so I did, then figured someone here might enjoy reading it, too.

    The questions came a mile a minute and she lost track of where one ended and the next began, all blurring into one long stream of static. She made out Loki’s name several times but that was about it. Kailani began to notice things about the room; the slight unevenness of the chair she was sitting in, the barely noticeable flicker of one of the lights in the far corner, the fact that one of Thor’s eyes was just a _hint_ bluer than the other.

 

    He was looking at her oddly then turned to interrupt the speakers, the rest of the Avengers. She vaguely registered that he was telling his comrades that she wasn’t paying attention to them anymore. The questions then slowed, limiting themselves to how long Loki had been staying there, whether she knew where he was now, and whether he was coming back. She answered as honestly as she dared, only blatantly lying once, and then they left, seemingly satisfied. Thor hung back a bit, staring at her long enough to make her shift slightly, and then followed the rest. As soon as the door shut behind the heroes, Kailani locked it then leaned her forehead against it and breathed out a deep sigh of relief.

 

    “I thought they’d never leave,” Loki spoke behind her and she let out a strangled shriek and whirled around. He smiled at her then tucked a single blue forget-me-not flower behind her ear before turning and going into the kitchen.

 

    Kailani stared after him bemusedly as she tried to get her heartrate back to normal. If she didn’t know any better, she might think he was trying to give her a heart attack. She followed him and found him leaning against the counter eating a chocolate-peanut butter cupcake.

 

    Her _last_ chocolate-peanut butter cupcake.

 

    She marched right up to him and snatched it out of his hand, glaring at him like he’d just kicked her puppy. Kailani could put up with many things; cupcake theft was not one of them. Unbothered, Loki simply licked his fingers clean of frosting and went back to rummaging through her fridge, stepping back out with a chocolate pudding cup that she had no idea was even there.

 

    She was staring at him again as she ate her - _her_ \- cupcake. She wasn’t even trying to hide it, just openly staring at him. He didn’t seem to mind, even when she sat at the table across from him and leaned forward, like she was trying to see into his very soul. She waited until he set the empty pudding cup down; her grandmother’s strenuous lessons on etiquette would allow for nothing less, though clearly the part about not staring was lost on her.

 

    “You want something from me.” It was a statement. Meant to sound accusing, but somewhere along the line between her mind and mouth lost its bite.

 

    “No,” Loki said simply, devoting entirely too much attention to cleaning his spoon of every last trace of pudding.

 

    For some reason, she believed him.

 

    “Why not?” Kailani asked confusedly, feeling the oddest trace of disappointment well up in the back of her mind. Weird.

 

    Green eyes locked with hazel and he leaned forward as though to share a great secret. “Because I already have it,” He replied with an indulgent grin.

 

    _What does that even-_

 

    Oh.

 

    Ohh.

 

    Well, then.

 

    Loki’s grin widened as the realisation dawned on Kailani’s face and she quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and snapped a picture. He seemed slightly surprised but she merely shrugged, claimed it was ‘for posterity’ and put her phone away.

 

****

 

    Kailani was sitting cross-legged on the coffee table staring at him when he woke up, her elbows on the bend of her knees and loose fists supporting her chin. Loki wondered how long she’d been sitting there. He sat up and turned to face her, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees. They stared at each other for a long while then Kailani reached a hand out, poked his forehead, stood and walked away to the kitchen.

 

    She didn’t flinch this time when she turned around with two cups of coffee in her hands to find him right behind her; simply sipped on her cup and offered him the other. It was the same mug as last time, he noticed amusedly.

 

    “You lied to them.”

 

    “No, I didn’t.”

 

    “You did. You knew I was coming back.”

 

    Kailani shrugged noncommittally and turned her attention to her cup, reminding herself to drink _slowly._

 

    Loki followed suit, using his magick to cool the beverage a little. How she could stand drinking it as it was was a mystery to him. There was a peaceful sort of lull as they both drank; a sharp contrast to how Loki’s previous day had been before he got there that he really quite liked.

 

****

 

    In retrospect, she probably should have seen this coming with how intently Thor had stared at her the day the Avengers showed up at her house; a fact which was utterly useless to her two hundred feet above the streets.

 

    It was mid-afternoon and she’d been on her lunch break, already wishing she was home in her pyjamas with a gallon of ice-cream and whatever show on Netflix she was not going to watch just one episode of again, when Loki showed up out of nowhere, as he does, and grabbed her by the waist before pulling her with him though a portal.

 

    The experience left her with mixed feelings.

 

    He was pulling her along a building, she had no idea which but it seemed to be empty, and she marvelled slightly at how oddly comfortable her hand felt in his. There was a soft whooshing sound and Loki stopped abruptly and pushed her back before resuming their running; she chanced a glance back and saw an arrow embedded in the wall the second before it exploded, taking a large chunk of the wall with it. Loki wrapped an arm around her waist again and pulled her through another portal.

 

    She must have lost consciousness for a minute or so, because before she knew it she was on a rooftop once again face to face with the Avengers, most of whom were looking at her with varying degrees of concern, though none with enough to make her feel in any way comforted. They probably thought she might be in on... whatever it was that was happening, she realised.

 

    Not particularly soothing.

 

    They were talking. Mostly demanding that Loki release her, turn himself in, or something like that. She was rather distracted by the fact that part of Loki’s bracer was digging into her stomach in a not very comfortable way. She squirmed slightly; he barely paused in his response, something about not really feeling like doing any of the things they were asking, and loosened his grip some. Enough.

 

    She might actually have a chance at slipping from his grasp.

 

    She didn’t try.

 

    If she had turned her head, she might have caught Loki’s smirk at the fact.

 

    The Avengers seemed torn; Loki had gotten away from them so many times, and this time he was _right there._ But so was Kailani. Suspicions about her or not, she was still a civilian and they couldn’t risk her becoming collateral damage. There had been a little too much of that of late and no one was ready to add to it.

 

    “Loki; what could you possibly want with an average, art store clerk?” Came the question from a frankly quite fed up Iron Man.

 

    “Hey!” Kailani spoke out before she could stop herself. Of all the things she was, ‘average’ wasn’t one of them, and she took quite an offense at the unintentional jab.

 

    “I think you hurt her feelings, Stark,” Loki responded amusedly, “You should apologise.”

 

    “Just let her go; no one needs to get hurt here,” Captain America tried to reason.

 

    “How funny you should say that,” Loki replied, draping his other arm around Kailani’s shoulders and resting his chin on the top of her head in a probably far-too-intimate gesture she couldn’t bring herself to be disturbed by, “When you are the ones pointing weapons.”

 

    “Loki, enough; release her,” Thor demanded, though he didn’t look - or sound, for that matter - particularly hopeful about his brother’s compliance.

 

    It occurred to Kailani that he knew more than he was letting on. She really should have seen that coming.

 

    “Sorry, brother, but this one is mine,” Loki said almost gleefully with a grin then pulled them both back and off the roof. Her nails dug into his arm as she tightened her grip, but to her credit she didn’t scream.

 

    The team rushed to the edge in time to see the portal they’d fallen into close, and then they were gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah; this is now a full story. Because tumblr people asked and I'm apparently a feedback whore. Enjoy!

    She was upset, that much was obvious, and understandably so given the circumstances. He hadn’t really thought about what going through multiple portals in such quick succession would do to her; after all, they perfectly harmless to _him._

 

    But then again, _he_ wasn’t human.

 

    He really needed to remember that _she_ was.

 

    She was also _spectacularly_ pissed off at the moment.

 

    He stood there patiently, and, more importantly, _silently,_ hands loosely clasped behind his back while she yelled and raged and threw things that bounced harmlessly off the shield he’d had the good sense to put up beforehand. He owed her this much, not to mention it was really quite fascinating to watch; there was a lot more fire in her than he would have guessed from their first meeting. Fire that could prove very, very useful.

 

    Finally she ran out of things to throw and she stood there, panting slightly and expression still stormy, and utterly beautiful. Loki risked approaching her and was pleased when she didn’t back away; he reached a hand up and brushed a lock of her dark hair that had fallen out of its bun off her face, tucking it behind her ear. He smiled at her and she narrowed her eyes, though he could see the fire had run its course. She didn’t resist when he placed a hand on the small of her back and steered her out of the room, or when he sat her down at the table and placed a cup of coffee in front of her.

 

    Still his.

 

****

 

    Kailani woke up with a slight headache and no memory of having actually fallen asleep. She shifted a bit and looked down to see she was lying on a couch.

 

    _Well, isn’t this nice._

 

    She heard a faint rustling nearby and looked up to see Loki sitting on the far end of the couch reading, and it was then that everything that had occurred the previous day came back to her. Loki had apologised for how out of sorts she had and would likely feel for the rest of the day because of the portals and warned her that she might unexpectedly fall asleep at some point, which clearly she had.

 

    “Where are we?” She asked, her voice sounding just a bit hoarse. Without a word or even looking up from the page, he conjured a glass of water and held it out to her. She accepted it, drained it, and looked around for a moment before deciding to just set it down on the floor. She sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them, waiting for him to decide to acknowledge her properly.

 

    It was a while before he closed his book and looked up at her. “Ireland,” He replied to the question she had forgotten about by then in favour of how the light reflected off his hair, “More specifically, Inis Oírr.”

 

    “Oh,” Kailani responded quietly. She looked around the room; it was a cosy-looking place, with a fireplace and several bookshelves, though she got the impression it was empty of people a lot. She looked back at Loki to see he was watching her. “Why, though?” She asked.

 

    “Why not?” He asked back.

 

    _Can’t argue with_ that _._

 

    “Okay,” She accepted easily. She unfurled herself to kneel on the cushion and scooted a little closer to him. “Why am I here, Loki?”

 

    Loki set the book aside and moved closer to her, leaning down so that their faces were inches apart. “Because you chose to be,” He replied, clearly quite pleased at the fact.

 

    She wasn’t sure what to make of that. She also hadn’t noticed that his eyes had _tiny little flecks_ of gold in them, but then, she hadn’t been _this_ close to him before; she sat back a bit and, sure enough, the distance blended the colours seamlessly. How curious.

 

    _Focus, girl!_

 

    And there was her teacher again. Of all the random... He was waiting for something. She blinked and cleared her throat. “I’m hungry,” She blurted out and then winced almost imperceptively because _that was not what she was going to say, brain!_

 

    Ah; she was amusing again.

 

    “Of course; how terrible of me to keep you without nourishment. Please excuse my poor manners,” He said quite seriously, though the effect was rather ruined by the fact that he was clearly holding back a laugh judging by his grin. He stood and offered his hand to help her up; she contemplated ignoring it but decided not to and let him lead her to the dining room.

 

    Once her plate was empty she pushed it aside and rested her forearms on the table, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes at him slightly. “Why are you so interested in me?” She asked slowly, eyes never leaving his.

 

    “You’re different; I like different,” He replied easily. He reached across the table and took one of her hands in his, pulling it closer to him and turning it palm up. “And you have something I need,” He added, tracing the lines of her palm with the fingers of his other hand.

 

    “And that would be...?”

 

    “A conversation for another time. You’re not ready yet.”

 

    Kailani huffed slightly and pulled her hand out of his, sitting up straight. She had a feeling he would say something like that, but that did nothing to curve her annoyance at _yet another_ person deciding for her what she was ready for or not.

 

    “I promise; soon,” Loki said placatingly, “For now, you’ll just have to trust me.”

 

    The amused snort was out of her before she could even think of holding it back. Loki’s eye twitched slightly but in the end he gave a rueful half-smile; that certainly was a lot for someone like him to ask of anyone. Kailani smiled apologetically in response. So far, he hadn’t actually lied to her; it wasn’t his fault she had trust issues with most everyone she met. No, that was entirely on Mrs. Thompson and her particular brand of ‘discipline’.

 

    “Three times three helps it stick,” She mumbled to herself, earning a curious look that she shook her head at, “Nevermind.” She stood and walked around the table to stand next to him. It felt a little odd, having to look down even a little to meet his gaze. She wondered if he felt the same about her then decided that probably not.

 

    He was waiting again.

 

    She shook her head slightly. “I’m not patient,” She said simply, “My mind wanders if you make me wait. Or even if you don’t.”

 

    “I’ve noticed,” He said amusedly.

 

    “This thing you want-”

 

    “Need,” He corrected gently.

 

    _“Need,”_ She amended, unconsciously mimicking his voice a bit. She took a breath. “Is it dangerous?”

 

    “Very likely.”

 

    “Will it hurt me?”

 

    “Oh, yes.”

 

    “Would I regret it?”

 

    “I hope not.”

 

    She chewed on her bottom lip absently; he reached up and pulled it out from between her teeth with his thumb, calling her attention to the fact.

 

    “Okay.”

 

    And there was that smile again.

 

****

 

    He sat on the sand watching her run along the shore playing with the waves like a child, completely uncaring of the fact that her clothes were by now absolutely soaked. He had no idea how he was going to tell her what he needed from her, or rather, how to convince her that that hadn’t been the plan when he found his way to her home that first night.

 

    Would she actually believe him?

 

    Would she still agree to it?

 

    Would she even have done so in the first place?

 

    He didn’t realise he’d lost sight of her or that she’d approached him until she tackled him to the sand, catching him completely off guard. He looked up to be met with a dazzling grin, and he breathed a laugh; she probably didn’t realise what she’d just done, but he was grateful all the same. He reached up and brushed her now loose and dripping hair over her shoulders; she responded by leaning down and kissing his cheek.

 

    “What was that for?” He asked as he sat up, placing his hands on her hips to keep her balanced.

 

    She opened her mouth then closed it, furrowing her brow slightly. “There was a long and complicated thought process that led to that,” She replied then shrugged, “Completely forgot what it was, though.”

 

    He laughed. “I suppose I’ll just take it and be happy, then,” He said, thumbs absently caressing her skin.

 

    He _really_ hoped she wouldn’t hate him when the time came. She was just too interesting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was randomly fueled by Glenn Miller. I was in a mood. (hahaa I'll show myself out)

    Kailani was losing her mind.

 

    Well; she was pretty sure she’d crossed that line a while ago, but this was new.

 

    She was standing in front of the foggy bathroom mirror, fresh out of the shower and wrapped in a towel, staring at her reflection but not quite seeing it. What she _was_ seeing was the blurry outline of people. There was a flurry of activity but she couldn’t make out what it was about.

 

    Then she saw red.

 

    Blood. A lot of it.

 

    Then she heard it; a distorted wail, like that of a newborn, seeming very far off yet close all at once.

 

    And then there was someone behind her and a hand on her shoulder and Kailani started with a shriek, only to turn around and find a very concerned-looking Loki.

 

    “Are you alright? I’ve been calling to you for almost five minutes.”

 

    “Uhhh... Yeah! I’m fine.”

 

    He didn’t believe her. It was all over his face. Not that the excessive cheeriness of her response would have fooled any but the dullest person, but still. He nodded once then handed her a royal purple sundress and some underwear and left the room so she could get dressed. She glanced at the mirror hesitantly, but all that stared back was her foggy reflection.

 

    _What the hell was that about?_

 

****

 

    It occurred to her to call her boss to explain her sudden absence and ask for some time off, seeing as how she didn’t know when Loki was taking her back home. It didn’t go over very well and by the end of the call she was visibly upset.

 

    “Bad news?” He asked, wondering if she’d be angry at him. It _was_ his doing that she’d needed to make the call at all.

 

    “I got fired,” She replied with a frown, “I _liked_ that job.”

 

    “You’ll find another. Serving is beneath you, anyway.”

 

    She raised an eyebrow at that. “You realise you’ve been using my house as your personal Bed & Breakfast for weeks, right?”

 

    “I’ve never asked you to wait on me.”

 

    “You haven’t exactly complained either.”

 

    “And deny you the obvious pleasure being a good hostess brings you? I think not.”

 

    She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to laugh or slap that smug smirk off his face, so she settled for throwing her phone at him, immediately regretting it when he caught it and looked at the screen.

 

    _Now_ she’d done it.

 

    The smirk grew into a grin.

 

    She was never going to hear the end of this.

 

    “My, my,” He began coyly as he looked up at her, “Quite flattering. I’m honoured.”

 

    As she buried her reddened face in her hands, she _almost_ regretted taking that picture of him. He chuckled then stood from the chair he’d been occupying to join her on the couch, sitting entirely too close to be appropriate and casually slinging his arm over the backrest, not _quite_ touching her shoulders. Kailani risked a peek through her fingers to see him still watching her, plainly amused, then hid her eyes again.

 

    “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, my dear; I have that effect.”

 

    “Shut up. Get away from me.”

 

    He laughed then, moving his arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him. Kailani put up a half-hearted fight before huffing in annoyance and letting him have his way, still not looking at him. Loki placed a finger under her chin and gently tilted her face up to his, chuckling slightly at her still evident blush.

 

    “You are a very curious creature, Kailani,” He said fondly.

 

    “You’re one to talk,” She retorted childishly, trying to suppress a smile. That earned her another chuckle and she lost her battle with her lips.

 

    And now she was staring again, losing herself in the green/gold ocean of his eyes.

 

    “Your eyes are so... pretty,” She said suddenly.

 

    From the awkward pause; he got the impression that she hadn’t meant to say that aloud and tried to stop herself only to realise it would sound weirder if she did. A corner of his lips twitched upwards and he moved the hand on her chin to tuck her hair behind her ear. “If only they were mine,” He said softly.

 

    “What do you mean?” She asked just as softly, just in case it was one of those things she really shouldn’t be asking. She had a lot of those.

 

    Loki leaned back in thought. Was it really a good idea? She’d probably find out eventually and it was likely best that she find out from him, he reasoned. With that in mind, he closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling the change threatening to consume him but firmly limiting it to just his eyes. One step at a time; he didn’t want to scare her.

 

    When he opened his eyes again, Kailani was met with red instead of the by now familiar green and she gasped almost inaudibly. He barely succeeded in not flinching, instead waiting and gauging her reaction. She moved closer again, practically climbing onto his lap not that she was in any way aware of it, and tilted her head to one side then the other.

 

    “Still pretty,” She finally declared.

 

    And then his lips were on hers.

 

    Well, then.

 

****

 

    She started awake with a gasp, and for one frightening moment all she saw was _red,_ as though she were still in her dream. She blinked and it was gone and she buried her face in the pillow Loki had given her with a slight groan. She sat up, the blanket falling off her shoulders and pooling at her waist, and rubbed her eyes tiredly before getting up from the couch and making her way to the bathroom. As she washed her face she pointedly ignored the mirror, not wanting a repeat of the previous day.

 

    Kailani sat on the couch for a long while, contemplating going back to sleep but realising she was too wired to do so now. She got up again and wandered into the kitchen, poking around to see what she could find without having the faintest idea what she was hoping for. In the end she found everything she needed to make hot chocolate and set about doing that.

 

    She had just dropped a stick of cinnamon into the mug and stepped back when she bumped into Loki, who was standing right behind her, and she let out a startled squeak and nearly dropped the mug. She glared at him over her shoulder but it was lost on him as he was staring at her cup rather intently.

 

    “I hope there’s more of that.”

 

    She wanted to be irritated. She really did. Instead she sighed and handed him her cup before getting another one and serving herself again. He briefly considered telling her that he hadn’t meant for her to do that, but the near-mechanical nature of her movements told him it was more a trained reaction that any real conscious thought; he wondered now who had taught her to be like that.

 

    As he took a sip he couldn’t help his eyes falling shut and a slight pleased moan from escaping his lips. When he opened his eyes again he was met with a very proud looking smile. “Is there any beverage you can’t make to perfection?” He praised and was rewarded with a bigger smile.

 

    “I’ve had a lot of practise,” She replied. Her smile faltered for a second but she shoved the encroaching thought out of her mind before it could properly get there.

 

    He noticed but filed it away to question another time. He knew the signs of a bad memory when he saw them and the moment was too pleasant to ruin by asking. Instead they enjoyed their hot chocolate and their company in silence, and that was its own reward.

 

    As she placed the empty cups in the sink, he walked up behind her and placed his hands on the counter on either side of her, effectively trapping her in place. “Why are you awake at this hour?”

 

    “Mm... bad dream.”

 

    “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

    She nibbled at her bottom lip for a moment. “There was a lot of... red. I’m not really sure what was going on. I think someone was dying.”

 

    His arms moved to wrap around her and pull her back to him. “I’m sure it was just a dream.”

 

    Kailani considered telling him about the mirror. “Yeah,” She said instead, “Just a dream...”

 

    He turned her around then cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her, and the dream was forgotten in favour of the fact that she could taste the chocolate and cinnamon in his mouth. He knew there was more, that there was something she wasn’t telling him, but like before now wasn’t the time to ask. Now was the time to revel in the fact that once again she hadn’t pushed him away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, my gods, I am just the worst. I'm so sorry this has taken so long. I'll just go sit in the corner of shame like I deserve.
> 
> In case ya'll missed the updated tags, there's talk of childhood abuse in this one. So... yeah.

    There were flowers everywhere.

 

    Why were there flowers everywhere?

 

    Kailani sat up, feeling the thick blanket beneath her. She blinked confusedly, looking around for a moment, then noticed the empty yet disturbed blanket next to hers.

 

    _Oh, right;_ that _happened._

 

    They hadn’t meant to fall asleep in the garden (that she only _now_ realised she had no idea who it belonged to and if they were trespassing), but the ground was soft and comfortable, the atmosphere relaxed, and talking into the small hours of the morning didn’t leave them with much thought or inclination to move. She rubbed her eyes and contemplated getting up to look for Loki, when he suddenly appeared next to her with a basket full of what she assumed to be breakfast by the scents coming from within. If he noticed her slight startled flinch, which he very likely did as he seemed to notice every damn thing, he didn’t comment on it.

 

    “Good morning,” He greeted as he sat down, placing the basket between them.

 

    “If you say so.”

 

    “Isn’t it?”

 

    She shrugged. “I’ve learned to never get my hopes up too early in the day.” She leaned over the basket, missing his curious look, and peeked inside. “What’s this?”

 

    “Well, I could be wrong, but I believe it’s food.” That earned him a wholly unimpressed look that he grinned at before she turned back to the basket and pulled a plate out. He was about to grab the other plate when she was finished serving up the one in her hand, but she handed it over to him without even a glance. “You don’t have to do this, you know,” He said as she grabbed the other plate and began serving herself.

 

    Kailani’s face as she looked up at him was one of confusion. “Do what?”

 

    Loki stared at her for a long moment. “You really don’t notice, do you?”

 

    “Notice what?”

 

    “You serve me without question or even conscious thought, and I get the impression you do that for everyone as well,” He replied, eyeing her intently. “Such a thing doesn’t come naturally, it is taught. So, who taught you?”

 

    Kailani looked down at his plate then at hers and huffed a laugh. “I really do do that, don’t I?” She looked back up at his waiting expression and sighed then set her plate aside and sat up straight. “My grandmother raised me and she had very specific ideas of how girls should behave. Disagreeing wasn’t an option, and forgetting the rules had consequences.” She smiled wryly. “I’m not very good at remembering. She was very good at compensating for it.”

 

    He frowned, having a pretty good idea what she was implying. “What of your parents?”

 

    “What about them?”

 

   “I assume there’s a reason they didn’t raise you.”

 

    “Sure,” She replied with a shrug.

 

    “Which is...?”

 

    “The reason.” He narrowed his eyes at her and she crossed her arms at her chest. “Look, just because you brought me breakfast doesn’t mean you get my whole life’s story. Particularly since you’re not exactly offering much detail on yours.”

 

    “So you’re perfectly willing to confess to me that your grandmother abused you, but not why your parents let it happen?” He scoffed, “You have an interesting way of prioritising information.”

 

    “I never said she abused me,” Kailani retorted sharply.

 

    “Didn’t you?”

 

    “She was strict!”

 

    “Of _course.”_ His tone was a touch condescending.

 

    “What do you even care anyway? You weren’t all that interested in my background when you decided to invite yourself into my house!” She snapped, beginning to stand up; she let out a slight yelp when he pulled her back down with his seidr.

 

    “You haven’t touched your breakfast,” He said by way of explanation, “It’d be a terrible waste to leave it, don’t you think?”

 

    She glared at him for a moment longer but ultimately couldn’t bring herself to disagree with the statement and picked up her plate. They ate in silence as she wasn’t inclined to make conversation and he knew better than to keep pushing. It would hardly be ideal for her to hate him _now;_ his plan would fail before he could truly set it in motion if that happened, and that would just be unfortunate.

 

    When they were done, he cleared everything away then stood and offered her his hand. She stared at it for a long while, long enough to make him wonder if he really had pushed her too far, but in the end she still took it and let him help her up.

 

 

******

 

 

   She was sitting on the shore, close enough to the water that the coming waves brushed her feet, staring off into the horizon. She hadn’t said a word to him since their disagreement that morning but he didn’t think she was angry anymore, merely lost in thought; what those thoughts were, he could only guess.

 

    “She liked tea,” Kailani said suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Really, all hot drinks, but particularly that. I always made it, and I had to do it just right.”

 

    “I suppose it would be too much to hope you were a fast learner?”

 

    A humourless laugh.

 

    She stood up and turned to face him. “You can’t just throw words like that around.”

 

    “Calling it by any other name does not change the truth, pet.”

 

    “Don’t call me that.”

 

    He raised his hands in apology. “My point still stands, _Kailani.”_

 

    She turned around to face the sea again but he walked around her and stood in front of her. “What do you want from me, Loki?”

 

    “I want you to accept it.”

 

    “Why? What difference does it make to you?”

 

    “Never mind that; it makes a difference to _you.”_

 

    “No, you know what? That’s not good enough,” Kailani snapped, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him, “You can’t just uproot my life and break everything I’ve built and not tell me why!”

 

    “If it’s that easy to break then you didn’t do a very good job of building, did you?” Loki retorted.

 

    Before he could even regret the words her hand shot up, open palm connecting with his cheek, and she stormed off up the beach. He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and let out a deep sigh before turning around and following after her, keeping his distance lest he make things any worse.

 

    This was not how the day was supposed to go.

 

 

******

 

 

    There were flowers everywhere.

 

    She looked around, her barely woken mind trying to make sense of why the living room was full of flowers and failing. Some part of her mind - the one that held all sorts of information that was interesting to her yet largely useless - identified all the blue surrounding her as hyacinths.

 

    An apology, then.

 

    Why wasn’t she surprised that he wouldn’t apologise in person or with words? She vaguely wondered if he’d ever actually uttered the words ‘I’m sorry’ then decided she didn’t really care.

 

    He didn’t come back to the house until the afternoon, and by then she had rearranged all the vases into a spiral around the couch by size, the smallest one placed before her as she sat on the middle cushion with her legs tucked under her. He was quite impressed by her impeccable symmetry even as he wondered at the thought process that led to the activity.

 

    “I don’t know who my father is,” Kailani began, hazel eyes staring intently at the flowers in front of her, “My mother wasn’t sure, and didn’t really care to know.”

 

    Loki scoffed lightly then walked over to her, taking care to avoid the vases, and sat down beside her.

 

    “My mother didn’t want me. She didn’t want the responsibility, so she left me with my grandmother.” A deep breath. “My grandmother always told me how much of a disappointment my mother was, how she could never get through to her.” Her hands clenched into fists on her lap. “She knew what she was leaving me to and she didn’t care.”

 

    She felt his thumb brush her cheek and realised she was crying. She looked up at him and he opened his arms in invitation, which she took after a moment’s thought. For a long while they simply sat there in silence as he held her, and then she pulled away and wiped her face clean of tears.

 

    “I can’t call it that; I don’t blame her. I know I should. I can’t.”

 

    “I shouldn’t have tried to force it; you will when you’re ready and not a moment sooner.”

 

    “You still haven’t told me why it matters.”

 

    Loki hesitated, wondering if now was the time to tell her, then sighed. “Because it’s holding you back, and you need to be stronger.”

 

    “Why?”

 

    He took her face in his hands and kissed her.

 

    Not yet.


End file.
